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NC Trooper Shortage

11-12-2018, 10:11 AM

Every few weeks I hear about it online and on the news. If the shortage is so bad, then why does the SHP only hold one Patrol Basic School class a year? Why not hold multiple schools are year like 2-3 Also, some Patrol Schools are the 15 week "short" school for people with the BLET cert. If someone does have a BLET cert, they might have to wait 2 years before the next "long" school.

Also, the SHP should have figured out by now that if they hire 40 cadets for a school, at least 10-20 will drop out, not make it get, etc. They should think about increasing the size of the school to factor in attrition.

They need to do away with the age restriction as well. If they get rid of the age limit you will have many separating veterans and people like myself that live in NC apply. But until then they will continue to have shortages.

Comment

That's a good question. No inside knowledge but I do know a few things about a few things....

1. Academies, especially SHP academies, are very resource intensive. Personnel with subject matter expertise (accident reconstruction, pursuit driving, etc) have to be re-assigned from busy jobs for extended periods of time. This may seem like no big deal but training assignments can be a huge time suck for personnel resources that are already stretched thin.

2. In general, state agencies abhor recognizing/substituting prior training. There are a few reasons for this; they prefer to maintain total control of the training process from the 'break down' phase to the 'build up' phase in order to transform new hires into their mold, they dislike having to re-train people who were taught techniques different from how SHP does things, and to avoid legal issues regarding uniformity in training for all personnel. That said, the politicians and the bean counters who control budgets make the ultimate decision and if the financial resources aren't provided, agencies are forced to make adjustments.

3. General institutional rigidity ("The way it's been done is the way it'll always be done.")

The only people who know where the edge is are the ones who have gone over it.

Comment

More than 1 school is run per year. The class size has increased but we have standards and don't mind losing those who don't have what it takes. It's not for everyone and some don't figure that out until they get to Garner and experience a little taste of patrol school.

Comment

I still wonder where I would have been had I been qualified for SHP. My eyesight at the time was worse that 20/80 uncorrected, but was able to be sworn at another agency. Funny thing is that once a Trooper, changing eyesight is not a factor. Sigh.